Punk! and other cute Evan stories

Evan was walking to the playground yesterday with his babysitter, her son, and Caleb, when they were passed by a group of teenage boys. Evan quite matter-of-factly said to them, "Outta my way, punk!" Where, you ask, did our sweet little boy learn such language? Scott says that this is what happens when you live in the 'hood. I, on the other hand, am pretty sure he learned it from his FATHER, who frequently says similar things to Evan. (E.g. outta my way punk; what're you doing, punk, etc.)

We were sitting down for dinner the other night, and Evan turned to me and said, "So, how was your day?" Laughing, I told him it was good and asked him, "How was your day Evan." He said, "I went to Colby's house. I played with airplanes."

Yesterday at naptime when Evan was at his babysitter's house, her son (Colby) wanted Evan to sing him a song. He asked that Evan sing him, "I Feel My Savior's Love," so Evan sat down in the rocking chair and sang him the whole song.

Evan and Colby declared yesterday that when they are workers when they get bigger they want to drive garbage trucks because that would be fun. We're so proud!!

Memorial Day fun, but no nanny

Scott's parents came to visit us for Memorial Day weekend, and we had lots of fun. On Saturday everyone but me went to breakfast at a very local diner and then went to Ft. Independence at Castle Island. (Sadly I was stuck at home all day working on the 50-state survey I complained about in an earlier post. That was after being at the office until 3am one night earlier in the week and staying up until 2-4am several other nights in the preceding two weeks. Woe is me. )
Then on Sunday after church we drove to the Berkshires in Western Mass. The landscape was beautiful and we had the fortune to be there a weekend or two before the height of the season started, when the Berkshires are inundated by visitors going to Tanglewood (where the Boston Pops play for the summer), the Shakespere Festival, some sort of dance company, and various other major attractions.

On Monday we went to a train museum and got ride on one of the old trains. Evan, as you might
imagine was in train heaven.

Here he is with his Grandpa Pat.

And here, as you can see, are me, Scott, and Caleb enjoying the train ride.

Evan with his Grandma Vivi. He was way too excited about riding on the train to look at the camera.

All of us.

And here is the very cool train we got to ride on.

After the train museum we went to Hancock Shaker Village. Apparently I didn't take any pictures there, though. Still, it was really neat to see the museum there and learn more about the Shakers.

We hope all of you are well and enjoying the start of summer. In case you're wondering, no we haven't found a nanny yet. We thought we'd found one. She accepted our offer, we cancelled our other interviews, spent hour setting things up for her payroll and taxes, told our current babysitter she could quit a few days earlier than she'd been planning, and then the prospective nanny sent me an email three days before she was supposed to start and said she'd been thinking about it and realized that after just a few months of working for us she would have to find a new family to fit with and work for. Of course, we stated in the ad she responded to, as well as the phone and in-person interviews we had with her, that we would only need someone for six months. Why she waited until after we'd gone through the whole hiring process to think about the implications of that, I don't know. But now we're starting back at square-one, even more wary and weary of the nanny-hiring process than we were after our first nanny experience right after we moved to Boston. (And for those of you who know that story, that's saying a lot!)



More pictures:

Scott and Evan outside the USS Constitution.



The boys and me inside the USS Constitution.
And the boys on the swings at the park.

Nanny, anyone?

This is a total long-shot, but here goes anyway. We need to make other arrangements for childcare and are looking for a live-out nanny to start full-time at the beginning of July. In the rather unlikely event that any of you dear friends happen to know anyone (a sister, a sister of a friend, a friend, a friend of a friend, a cousin, etc.) who might be interested, let me know. Though it would obviously be easiest if it was someone already living in Boston, this would also be a great opportunity for someone who wanted to take a semester off and have some fun living in Boston for a few months.

Sorry these last few posts have been so boring....I will try to update again soon with pictures and stories from our wild Memorial Day weekend. (Ok, it wasn't all that wild, but it was fun.)

For you minivan doubters

CNN -- SUVs plunge toward Engangered list:
"If gas prices stay where they are at or continue to rise, the body-on frame SUV is an endangered species and the pickup truck as a personal car is an endangered species," Brown says.
How do owners react when they're told their once-$40,000-plus vehicles are now worth less than half that?
'When they find out what you think their truck is worth, they think you're trying to rip them off or something,' says Fernandez. 'Small cars are gone within a week; SUVs are sitting here since last summer.'"

http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/wayoflife/05/23/dumping.suvs/index.html

This is why SUVs are not an option we're willing to consider. Excluding SUVs, to comfortably fit three carseats, we would need a full-size sedan or a minivan. I choose the minivan, which allows for more cargo space and makes it possible to transport more people than just three kids. Plus, if we have more than three kids (which we probably will), we'd have to buy a minivan or SUV anyway. And as previously stated, SUVs are not an option.

So there! (Or perhaps I doth protest too much?)

Aaaahhhh!

Fifty-state surveys = NO FUN!!!!!!! (Anyone want to know whether their state's express warranty law includes a reliance requirement? Because I could tell you.) And have I ever mentioned that I think class action plaintiffs' lawyers are evil little leeches? They are parasites that feed off big corporations and exist solely to earn attorney fees without providing any benefit to the people they claim to represent. They'll get you a five cent rebate on your toothbrush because it only cleans 75% of the plaque off your teeth rather than 95% like Oral-B advertised and then reap millions of dollars in attorney fees for miring the courts in litigation that serves no purpose other than lining their own pockets.

To balance that negativity, here's something cute (or two cute somethings):

PS A couple of shout-outs:

-- Kathleen, congrats on the baby on the way!!! I had no idea. You must call or email me with more details!

-- Kara, tell that kid to get outta you already! Doesn't he know we're all waiting impatiently for him?

The Tenth Commandment

I've seen you over there in our neighbor's driveway, hanging out and enjoying the sunshine. And yeah, I've noticed how tall, dark, and handsome you are. Maybe I let my glance linger a little longer than I should have, but who can blame me? Have you seen who I'm with? I mean, he's nice and everything but he's just not capable of meeting my needs. There was a time when he was all I needed, but in the past five years of our life together I've done a lot of growing and he just...hasn't. He's still exactly the same as when we first got together. We've had a good run, but I think it's time for me to move on. And you, dear Honda Odyssey, are exactly what I want to move on to. It's you who has room for two carseats, a stroller, and a load of groceries! It's you who has automatic sliding doors and remote keyless entry! It's you with your 13 cup holders, magic third row seat, and dvd player option! It's you I must have! I love my Chevy Prizm, but he just can't give me what I need anymore. It might take a few more months, Honda Odyssey, but we will be together soon.

And there you have it...

All that's left of my childhood home:

This is down on the lower-level. The wall you see in the background is part of the stairs leading down to the pool.

And this is looking up to where the garage and top-level were.

I know it's been a long while since I posted anything. I hope to update again soon with more (but less depressing) pictures.